Namikaze Naruko
by Britt-Ulquiorra
Summary: My take on how it could have been. Will be epic in length. Fem Naruto. Reverse Harem.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Sarutobi Hiruzen; recently reinstated as Sandaime Hokage, sat behind the old desk that sat in the middle his new/old office. Turning his chair a bit to face the large window, he looked out unto the village of Konohagakure no Sato. The sun had gone down hours ago and throughout the village the numerous street lamps were glowing brightly.

The whole village was still on edge after the recent attack of one of the monstrous Bijuu. The Kyuubi no Kitsune to be exact, the strongest of the Nine; or so they say. The Demon had nearly made it to the village gates, but was prevented from getting any closer because of the brave Shinobi who fought the beast tooth and nail; holding it at bay while the Yondaime had made preparations to reseal the beast. Finally when it looked like the Kyuubi would triumph over the Leaf, the Yondaime Hokage had arrived astride the large Toad Summon, Gamabunta. Then in a brilliant flash of bright, white light the Kyuubi was gone and the Yondaime was dead.

In sealing the Kyuubi away the Yondaime used a sealing method called Shiki Fuujin. The cost of using that jutsu even once however, had been the loss of his life. Minato had had to seal the monstrous chakra beast inside a newly born child, the umbilical cord freshly cut and chakra coils not yet fully developed. There had been only one child born that day; October 10th, Minato and Kushina's only daughter. It broke his heart to have to do it, but to save the village it had to be done. And besides if he could not sacrifice his own child for the sealing, how could he possibly ask anyone else?

The daughter of the Yondaime Hokage who lay in a crib just a few feet away from the Sandaime let out a soft sigh in sleep. Sarutobi had been told by Minato, just before he went off to perform the sealing that she was to be called Namikaze Naruko.

Namikaze Minato had earned the nickname of the Yellow Flash of Konoha. The nickname came from the technique that he created involving a special kunai and a special sealing formula tagged to his chakra allowing him to move at speeds unheard of; a unique space/time jutsu. Just thinking about the babe having the last name of her father was a scary thought. Minato had had many enemies. Those most of all were ninja from Iwa, made during and after the Third Great Shinobi War.

Although Hiruzen thought it may be a bad idea putting such a bulls eye so to speak on Naruko's back, he would not go back on his word to Minato. Perhaps a talk with Oonoki was in order after all of this was taken care of. The Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure no Sato was as stubborn as they come, but Hiruzen had faith in his own abilities to deal with this. After all, the war was over, and there was always a chance to clear the air.

A knock on the door resounded quietly throughout the room and Sarutobi looked to the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and in came Namiashi Raidou, the old Hokage could see the grief in the young mans eyes, see the slumped posture indicating a need for sleep, that all of the ninja save for perhaps the Genin, looked like this evening. Minato had ordered for every Genin, Chuunin and Jounin under the age of 15 to stay away from the fighting of the Kyuubi.

Raidou was a Tokubetsu Jounin, although he was fairly young, just hitting 19. He had short, slightly messy chocolate brown hair, Brown eyes and a fleshy like scar on his face giving him a slightly dangerous appearance. He wore the Jounin standard: dark Shinobi sandals, dark blue Shinobi pants with the ends wrapped in bandages, a dark blue long sleeved shirt underneath a dark green Jounin vest. His Hitai-ate was tied around his forehead.

"The Council is ready, sir, as per your orders."

"Thank you, Raidou. I'll be along." Sarutobi heaved out of his chair and made his way to the crib holding the still sleeping form of Naruko.

The door to his office clicked shut behind the Special Jounin and Hiruzen let loose a deep sigh. Staring down at the sleeping babe, he felt a deep sadness in his heart; barely a day old and already an orphan. Such a hard life this child would have. But Sarutobi promised that he would do right by her. Picking up the child the Kage grabbed and donned his hat and made his way to the Council Chambers.

* * *

The doors to the Council chambers clanked open and in strode the Sandaime Hokage, in his arms he carried a small bundle; upon closer inspection the other council members noticed that it was a baby; tufts of yellow hair peeking out around the blanket that was wrapped around her. Perplexed with why their Hokage would have such a child no one spoke, but the confusion in their eyes was noticeable.

The Hokage had taken his seat at the head of the table, clearing his throat; he began, "as you may have noticed we are missing half of our Council tonight, the Civilian Council to be exact." All within the room sat back and listened. "For what I have to say to you all, is a Shinobi matter and I shall not have this information being leaked to the public just yet."

Murmurs all around, the Hokage had not called a Shinobi-only meeting of the councilors since the Third Great Shinobi War.

"This child is the daughter of our Late Yondaime and his beloved wife Uzumaki Kushina."

Excited whispers all around, Sarutobi was glad for a positive reaction.

"However, she is also the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," finished the Sandaime.

"Hokage-Sama, you can't be serious!" started Hyuuga Hiashi, "what was the Yondaime thinking!?"

"I know of all of your concerns; what if the Kyuubi breaks loose? But keep in mind that Minato was a Master at Fuujin-jutsu and he would not have sealed it inside his own daughter if he wasn't sure of what he was doing. Please keep an open mind here; He knew what he was doing." Hiruzen looked all around the large table; His eyes resting on each and every one of the Shinobi Council.

Hyuuga Hiashi; their clan had a unique Kekkei Genkai, Byakugan, a dojutsu that allowed the user to see and attack the chakra circulatory system with their Gentle Fist style or Jyuuken. Their clan was split into two groups: the Main family and the Branch family. Tensions between the two were usually quite high. Branch family members were branded from a young age with a Caged Bird Seal; a seal that would activate upon death, if for example, a Branch member was taken prisoner, the enemy would not be able to obtain their Kekkei Genkai. Hiashi had a knack for politics and a way with words.

Inuzuka Tsume; their clan specialized in their use of Ninken; they formed strong bonds with their canine partners and had developed many ninjutsu to compliment it. They were brash and impulsive, but were also fiercely loyal. The Inuzuka Clan took care of all the village veterinary needs.

Auburame Shibi; their clan was very similar to the Inuzuka, the difference being that all the clan members used logic to find solutions to difficult situations, their clan used a Hijutsu with Kikai-chuu, an insect that lived inside their bodies; feeding off of their chakra and allowing the use of their unique chakra absorbing abilities to fight alongside the Auburame in battle.

Nara Shikaku; A clan with a Hijutsu involving the use of shadows; most members of the Nara clan were very lazy with a higher than average IQ. Many members were a part of the cipher division of the village. The clan also tended to many deer they had on their lands for medicine. Shikaku in addition to being clan head was also the Jounin commander of the Village.

Yamanaka Inoichi; their clan used a Hijutsu as well; mind techniques, allowing the user to enter the mind of another. Inoichi and his wife owned a flower shop, and Inoichi was the Head of the Torture and Interrogation department. As a Genin Inoichi was on the same team as Shikaku and Chouza, their famed teamwork granted their team the nickname Ino-Shika-Chou.

Akimichi Chouza; Often their clan was made fun of by the younger generation, all members of the clan were quite large. The word 'Fat' uttered in their presence however was taboo. They of the Akimichi were large because their techniques demanded the energy. The Akimichi used a unique Hijutsu that allowed them to turn calories into chakra. Many of their techniques used chakra to enlarge parts of their bodies in combat. Many restaurants in Konoha were owned by the Akimichi.

Uchiha Fugaku; the famed Uchiha clan were known for their Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. The dojutsu enabled the user to copy techniques and well as predict the movements of their opponent(s). The Uchiha was a very proud clan, a lot of members thought themselves superior to others. Fugaku had a lot of political influence that made it hard for Sarutobi to maneuver sometimes.

Elder Council members Shimura Danzo; Sarutobi had known Danzo for most of his life. He was cunning and power hungry, although he was fiercely loyal to Konoha.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were both Sarutobi's Genin teammates. Old as they were their expertise of the Shinobi world and life experience had them on the council.

There were three others who were supposed to be a part of the council; Uzumaki Kushina was dead, Namikaze Minato was dead and Senju Tsunade had left the village years ago, heartbroken over the loss of both her brother and lover.

Once it seemed that everyone had settled down, Danzo cleared his throat, looking quite pleased; as if the cat had finally caught the canary. He wore white robes tucked into black hakama, he had a handsome face, or it had used to be handsome, but now age was making itself known, his dark eyes were those that had seen many battles, defeat and victory alike.

"Hokage-Sama, this will be a great opportunity. If we can teach the child to harness the powers of the Kyuubi, we can-"

"Danzo," interrupted the Old Man, "she will be trained, I have asked for Jiraiya to return. He will be the one to look at her seal, to make sure nothing is amiss, and when the time comes I will have him train her in everything she will need to know to defend herself."

Danzo sat back in his seat; he seemed to accept the Hokage's argument for now. "There is one other matter that needs to be attended to, however; Naruko is going to need a home, and I'd rather not use the orphanage in this case, the daughter of our Yondaime would be spoiled with love, doted on from the civilians and perhaps one day may become arrogant to her position. I will not hand her everything just because of who she is, she will learn humility. Which begs the question; which of you will have her?"

The clan heads took a moment to think about that, most of them had not yet had children, only Tsume with her daughter Hana and Fugaku with his son Itachi. Shikaku and his wife Yoshino were expecting, six months ago Shikaku had told them, and he looked as happy as the lazy Nara had been able to.

"This child will have to be placed under the clan restoration act as the last of the Uzumaki and daughter of Yondaime-Sama, who had become a clan head once he was named Hokage," stated Auburame Shibi. As logical and cool headed as they come.

"While I don't want Naruko to be used solely as a broodmare, she will have to marry at least four men by the time of her eighteenth birthday, or else we the council will have to choose for her; and I fear what the civilian side would do with that knowledge. They would see it as the opportunity to claim their right over the Yondaime's jutsu and riches."

"I agree, Hokage-Sama and I formally ask for Naruko's hand in marriage on behalf of my son, Uchiha Itachi." Fugaku inclined his head forward, indicating the bow he was not able to make, due to his seated position. Sarutobi tilted his head forward in acknowledgement.

"Wonderful, Itachi would make a fine husband for Naruko, when the time comes." Itachi was much older than Naruko, but the age difference wasn't that bad. The young Uchiha heir was to be turning 5 this year. Better to be a few years older than for her to be stuck with an old man who wouldn't love her and only be with her for her name sake.

"Hokage-Sama, I will adopt her." The quiet voice of the Nara came as a surprise to Sarutobi. He had noticed that he had been staring at Naruko for quite a while, but as Yoshino was expecting he assumed Shikaku was just riveted by the fact that he would have one of his own in the months to come. The Third would never have guessed the lazy Nara to be contemplating adoption. "Yoshino and I were close to Kushina and Minato. I think he would have wanted it this way. Besides my troublesome son is probably gonna wanna marry her too. We may as well put 'em together now."

The Hokage was happy to hear that! A day old and already engaged twice, it was time to wrap this meeting up, lest he be roped into anything else. "In that case Shikaku, I will look after Naruko for a few years; if she were to go with you now she would come to call you father, and your young son would be a brother to her, they would probably feel too attached as brother and sister for a relationship. I'll keep her until her seventh year."

"What of her heritage?" asked Hiashi, "when will it be revealed? Surely Iwa will have something to say about the Yellow Flash having a child, attempted assassinations will probably traumatize her young mind."

"I will get in touch with the Tsuchikage sometime this week; I'll find a way to sort this out without any incident. This meeting is adjourned."

With that the Sandaime left the Chambers, a still sleeping Naruko nestled in his arms.

* * *

Author's Note: I do not own Naruto. Thank you for reading and reviewing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Four Years Later

The sun was just beginning to rise in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, dew clung to the leaves of the numerous trees and the faint glow of the morning light made one Namikaze Naruko feel giddy.

She had gotten up early, eager to watch the sun rise again, it was a cold morning, faint mist hung in the air, but Naruko didn't mind. Birds began to sing their morning song, beautiful in its simplicity, their dawn chorus soothing to her ears.

Today was Naruko's fourth birthday, and it was also the day that Ojii-chan said that she could begin her training to become a ninja. He had said that there was a man named Jiraiya who was going to teach her how; she would be Hokage in no time at all! Of course the Old Man had said it would take her years to learn to be a ninja, but of course she was four, and in her young mind that meant one or two techniques and she'd be sitting in his office with that awesome hat in no time at all.

Naruko was a little taller than most her age, and loved to wear the beautiful kimonos that her Ojii-chan bought for her. Her favorite being the ones that were orange; he said that orange was too bright for a ninja to wear, but it was her favorite anyway. She had shoulder length yellow-blonde hair, crystal blue eyes and three whisker-like marks on each cheek.

Her tummy gave a soft growl and she decided to go and see if breakfast was ready. She bounded down the long stair case in the large mansion sized house of the Hokage, excited that her training would begin today.

Entering the spacious dining room she saw that she was the last to arrive at the table, Hokage-Ojii-chan was already there, sipping his tea, also at the table was Konohamaru in his high chair being fed by one of the Matrons. Konohamaru was the one-year old grandson of the Hokage. His mother had died during childbirth, Naruko could barely remember her now, every time she thought of her all she saw was a brown-haired woman with a beautiful face and a kind smile; his father had died on a mission before he was born. Ko-chan was her otouto, her little brother.

There was an extra person sitting at the table she noticed, a large white haired man with red markings running from his eyes vertically down his cheeks, he seemed to be wearing a red haori over a green gi. Naruko had never seen this man before. Maybe he was Jiraiya; Ojii-chan had said Jiraiya was going to teach her.

Naruko took her seat at the table. "Morning Ojii-chan!" she said brightly.

"Ah, Naruko-chan this man is to be your new sensei. He is my former student Jiraiya. After breakfast you can go visit Itachi and then in the afternoon we'll start your training. Does that sound okay?" Sarutobi was smiling gently at her, as soon as she heard the words 'new sensei' she had started stuffing toast in her mouth and break neck speed, only to slow at the mention of Itachi. He chuckled.

"Okay, okay. Can 'Tachi-chan come and train with me sometimes? Oh, oh! I wonder what he has for me today. It's my birthday Ojii-chan didn't you know?" Always a fast talker, observant, and smart; working with Jiraiya she was sure to have a sharp tongue in no time. Sarutobi just hoped that Jiraiya wouldn't corrupt her with his perverted ways.

"Oi, Gaki, how come you're gonna go to the Uchiha's huh?" Jiraiya was trying to subtly tilt the conversation to Itachi to find out what she thought of the brat. Engaged or not; Naruko was his God-daughter and he wanted her to be safe and happy.

Naruko gave him a funny look, measuring his interest perhaps. "'Cause 'Tachi-chan is my Beroved!" she said proudly, puffing out her chest, smiling a toothy grin.

"The word is betrothed, Naruko-chan." Sarutobi corrected. She knew to some degree what it meant; she knew that she and Itachi would be married one day, just like in her old fairy tale stories, but what she did not yet know was that she was also promised to Nara Shikamaru, the son of Shikaku and Yoshino. Sarutobi had planned to tell her when she was seven, the age at which she would be moving into the Nara household.

"I'm done Ojii-chan, can I go now?" At his nod Naruko jumped off of her chair and made her way over to Konohamaru, gave him a kiss on the forehead and made her way back to her room to get ready.

Shortly after, she came back with one of the Matrons dressed in a dark green kimono tied with a light green obi. Her hair had been brushed and put up into two pigtails, one on each side of her head; her bangs hung down almost covering her eyes until she pushed them out of the way.

"Naruko-chan, before you go, I want you to open your presents." Upon hearing that, the blonde haired child went running forward, jumping into Sarutobi's arms squealing. "Happy Birthday, Naruko." The man chuckled.

From Hiruzen and Konohamaru she received some new kimonos for regular days and a few for training and a whole new set of shuriken and kunai, ninja wire and explosive tags; Although Sarutobi did warn her to be careful and to only use them after proper instruction.

Jiraiya dug through his pockets and fished out a small brown book and handed it to her. "Here; this will the book that you'll be studying in addition to your Shinobi studies at the academy in a couple of years. It's too soon for you to learn just yet, but we'll work on your calligraphy and you can read that book to understand sealing better by the time we get down to it."

Naruko read the cover, "Sealing for dummies," she said aloud; glancing up at the man, it was obvious that she didn't know what to say. "Uh, thanks, Sensei." Jiraiya gave her a cheeky grin in return.

"Naruko-Sama there's an ANBU at the door waiting to escort you to the Uchiha Compound!" The Matron's voice rang through the house.

"Thank you, Ojii-chan, Sensei," she hugged them both and skipped out of the dining room.

Putting on her geta sandals, Naruko looked up at the ANBU standing near the door, she would recognize that gravity defying hair anywhere.

"Good morning, Inu-chan! It's my birthday!" Naruko had seen this ANBU almost every day of her life and knew him well; well, as well as she could considering that she had never seen what lay beyond the ANBU Dog mask. Every time she left the compound he went with her. On the rare occasion that he was out on a mission there was a purple haired female ANBU instead.

"Happy birthday, Naruko-chan," was the reply.

Inu was a tall man, standing at 5'9, dressed in the standard ANBU uniform. Dark pants with the ankles wrapped in bandages to keep them held tight, black Shinobi sandals and a black muscle shirt underneath a silver colored chest plate. His arms were bare except for the silver forearm pads that wrapped around them; he had a tattoo on his right arm, a sign that he was an ANBU; he wore black fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back of each hand; on his back sat a short chakra blade. His hair was a shade of silver that stood up of its own accord, and hung a bit to the side. Naruko had never seen a hairstyle like his before, and hoped she never would; it was unique and she liked it.

"Hey, hey, Inu-chan, how old are you? When is your birthday?" They had just left the large house and were making their way towards the large oak wood doors that enclosed the Sarutobi Estate.

"Hmm," Inu hummed, "I turned 18 last month."

"Really, wow!" Naruko continued to talk throughout the long walk to the Uchiha Compound. Upon entering said Compound, two Uchiha; members of the Military police, made their way towards them.

"Namikaze-Sama, what brings you here today?" Spoke the older looking one of the two.

"It's my birthday!" Naruko spoke, "I'm here to see 'Tachi-chan." She smiled at them then; all sparkly teeth and shining personality. The Uchiha both looked like they had been put under a little trance; Yeah, Inu knew how they felt, she was such a cute little girl, and had a knack of making a person melt with that smile.

The Uchiha seemed to snap out of it and answered back. "Happy birthday to you and Itachi is training in the grounds behind their house. Be careful, okay?" With that they moved on nodding to Inu as they passed.

Continuing on they made their way through the Compound; Naruko waved and said hello to all she passed and received similar replies in return. Finally reaching their destination, Naruko called out.

"Good morning, Sasuke-chan, Mikoto-san!" Naruko ran up to them in greeting. Inu kept his distance; he was there to guard after all, just a precaution; although not one of the Uchiha would dare to harm the soon-to-be daughter in-law of Fugaku.

Mikoto looked up from her duties and smiled a kind motherly smile. "Hello! Happy birthday, Naruko-chan!"

Naruko murmured a polite 'thank you' in response.

Sasuke just Hn'd. He had never liked Naruko. She was always taking up the time of his Nii-san. Even at the age of three, Sasuke was supremely jealous of anyone near his brother; and having a 'girl' of all things around was gross, she probably had cooties!

"Itachi's out back. Be careful okay, Naruko-chan."

"Yes ma'am," Naruko saluted and ran around back, wandering past small trees and finally to a small clearing, mostly surrounded by large trees with a large boulder in the middle; there were small targets set up all around, on trees, on the moss covered ground, around and on top of the boulder.

Inu had followed along behind the young girl; far enough to be respectful of her privacy but close enough to keep an eye out in case of incident.

There in the clearing stood Itachi. He was nine now, tall for his age with long dark hair tied back in a low ponytail. He had kind black eyes on a handsome face; he was wearing a dark t-shirt and black pants with black Shinobi sandals.

Itachi took aim at the targets and jumped high in the air; he let fly six kunai, then two more bouncing them off of two others to hit all of the eight targets that were scattered around dead centre. He back flipped in the air, landing in a low crouch. He gazed over to where he sensed a presence to see Naruko standing there with her mouth slightly agape, a slight awed look adorning her features.

"Naruko-chan," he spoke quietly; and made his way over to her. "Happy birthday."

Naruko beamed and hugged him tight once he came close enough. He scooped her up like a sack of potatoes and she shrieked, surprised; he laughed. "Come on, I have something for you." Itachi made his way back to the house.

Once they were inside, Inu settled himself on a nearby tree, opening his precious Icha Icha and began to read.

Inside the house Itachi set Naruko on her feet and she removed her sandals, following the dark haired boy to his bedroom. She jumped up onto the bed and sat there, waiting.

After rummaging around for a few moments, Itachi came back to her holding a palm sized grey box and handed it to her. She looked up at him and he spoke. "One day maybe you'll wear this," he said with a tint of red on his cheeks.

Happy to receive anything from Itachi, Naruko opened the box and gasped to find a silver ring inside connected to a silver chain. The ring had a small diamond and other smaller orange colored diamonds surrounded it. It was much too big for her small fingers, so Itachi clasped the chain around her neck.

The girl then turned to Itachi and glomped him, knocking him backward on the bed; and they lay there, even at her age no words were needed to express her happiness with Itachi.

Sometime later, she felt a shake of her shoulder and a soft murmur of her name. She realized that she must have fallen asleep at some point.

"Naruko it's time for lunch, Kaa-san is asking for you to come join us." Naruko sat up to see Itachi kneeling next to her by the bed, rubbing her eyes; she went to the bathroom to freshen up and made her way to the kitchen of the house.

The family sat around a low table, unlike how they ate at Ojii-chan's, this family all knelt at their table in a more traditional setting. Upon entering the room Naruko made a low bow to Fugaku in greeting.

"Hello, Fugaku-Sama, thank you for inviting me to lunch." He nodded and Naruko smiled at him and then at Sasuke and Itachi. Mikoto was standing at the counter packing up an extra plate for Naruko.

Every time Naruko ate while she had her ANBU escort waiting outside she always insisted that she at least bring him a plate. Inu had told her as many times that she didn't have to, but his protests had fallen on deaf ears every time. With a quiet 'thank you', Naruko made her way outside with the bento. Looking up into the trees, she spotted a familiar orange book, held in the hands of the ANBU sitting in the tree.

Standing underneath the tree, she gazed up and spoke, "Inu-chan, you must be hungry!" she called. Despite Inu's protests that he never wanted her to bring him breakfast, lunch or dinner he always ate it in the end, and had stopped trying to fight her on the issue.

He hopped down, putting away his book. Naruko handed him the bento with a smile and he accepted. "Thanks, Naruko-chan." He sat leaning against the tree and performed some hand seals, masking his appearance with a genjutsu. Naruko had once asked him about it and he had said while on duty that he wasn't allowed to remove his mask. So in order to eat the meals she brought he used a genjutsu to hide his face. Naruko had laughed at that.

Her deed done, Naruko skipped back into the house where her own lunch was waiting. It was always pleasant eating with the Uchiha family; Sasuke and Naruko always supplied the most conversation. Mikoto and Fugaku listening and commenting here and there; rarely did Itachi say anything, content to listen to his family talk.

Sasuke had talked about the things he and Mikoto had done that morning and Naruko about the presents she had gotten and the knowledge that she would be starting her training that afternoon with Jiraiya-sensei.

The hour past and when it was time to go, Naruko bid the family goodbye with the promise to visit again soon. She hugged Itachi once more with a kiss on the cheek and a thank you for her present. She then fetched the empty bento from Inu and handed it back to Mikoto. Waving goodbye she and the ANBU headed back home.

Naruko once again talked for most of the trip, telling Inu about her present from Itachi and that she was sorry she had fallen asleep leaving Inu outside for hours. He had said it was no trouble. Nearing the fence with the oak doors allowing entrance into the Sarutobi Estate, Inu stopped walking.

"Naruko-chan, I have a present for you, too." Inu knelt down beside her and poked around in his pockets for a moment. Naruko was surprised; Inu had never given her a present on her birthday before. "Hold out your hand," he spoke again. The sun-kissed blond did as she was told and Inu handed her a cloth wrapped item.

At a questioning gaze from her, Inu nodded his head, giving indication for her to undo the cloth wrap. She did so, and inside found two identical hair clips. Small multi colored jewels surrounded a bright blue and green colored dragonfly. Its wings spread in flight.

"These once belonged to my Mother," Inu explained, still crouched down, one knee on the ground, the other ready to spring at a moment's notice. "I thought you should have them."

"They're so beautiful, Inu. Thank you so much!" she then wrapped her small arms around his neck for a large hug. Pulling back she gave him a dazzling smile and asked, "Can you put them in for me, Inu-chan?" She held the clips out to him and he complied with her request and placed one clip on each side of her head.

"You had best get back now, or else Hokage-Sama will start to worry." Inu then picked the blue-eyed girl up, his arm underneath her so she was half sitting on his arm half leaning against his shoulder. She giggled and wrapped an arm around his neck and Inu continued to make his way to the gates, up the walk way, stopping in front of the door.

"See ya next time, Naruko-chan." He set her back on her feet and stepped away from the door, waiting for her to go inside.

"Bye, Inu-chan!" Naruko waved and headed inside; only to open the door and slam into someone's leg the impact knocking her back on her butt. "Oof," she wheezed, catching her breath.

Inu, who had still been standing there hid his chuckle behind a cough and cleared his throat. "Jiraiya-Sama, good to see you, sir."

"Hey, Gaki, you've gotten taller; are you still reading my best sellers? I have the next book already planned out; it's gonna be a trilogy, Red, Black and Brown!" exclaimed the man. He hadn't apologized for knocking her over and she had had to get up herself. She huffed; the _nerve_ of Him.

Continuing on her path in the house she went up to her room to change for her training that afternoon, she would never be able to move in her day kimono. The presents from this morning had been placed in her room; she smiled as she saw them and moved over to the closet that held her clothes. Grabbing a pair of small black shorts and a short red skirt she put on both with a black tank top. She also removed her new hair clips lest they get damaged while training.

She made her way downstairs once again, finding Jiraiya standing near the door, waiting. Inu was nowhere to be seen.

"There's a big training area in the backyard, that's where we'll be training for the time being. Let's go." Naruko followed along putting on a more suitable pair of sandals than the geta from this morning.

Out back Jiraiya sat in the short grass, and Naruko sat as well, sitting across from him.

"What do you know of chakra?" he asked.

"Oh, I've read all about it, it's the physical and mental energy in the body, molded with hand seals," was Naruko's prompt answer.

"And have you ever tried to mold chakra?" he continued on.

"Well, yeah, but, I didn't know how."

"Alright, we're gonna sit here until you can find your chakra then. To find your chakra you have to meditate, focusing inward to find it, breath slow and deep, let the world fall away in your search."

Naruko did as she was told. Some time passed; and more; and more.

"Gah! Why can't I find it?" Naruko was a very patient for four year old, but one could only take so much.

Jiraiya chuckled, "You'll find it kid, give it some time."

And so the hours wore on that day, until it was time for dinner, Jiraiya told her to stop for the day; he bid her farewell, telling her that they would start after she had breakfast the next day. She thanked him and went inside.

The next morning was a bust, as well as the rest of the day.

On the third day of training, Naruko noticed a faint tugging sensation from deep inside; perplexed she tugged back and was overwhelmed with the energy she felt. It was suffocating; smothering her in a sea of blue and red. And then there was blackness.

She awoke in a… _sewer_? There were pipes running along the walls and ceiling, some of the pipes were rusted, others were leaking in a steady drip; others looked to be in pristine condition. There was water on the floor, ankle deep. Confusion riddled her small bones as she made her way around the numerous hallways, towards the faint light she could see and a mesmerizing growling sound that seemed to vibrate throughout all of the pipes she passed.

At the end of her search she came upon a large room, there were metal bars on one side of the room with intricate designs, in the middle where the large door came together there was a piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' on it that seemed to be holding the metal doors together. The growling seemed to be coming from behind the bars.

There was no light beyond however, so she could not see anything. Naruko felt that she should probably feel fear towards the darkness of the room but she felt oddly at peace; as if it were a part of her.

"Why have you come here, Human?" Came a deep voice from beyond the bars and Naruko froze, eyes turning quickly to the darkness, trying to see the figure who spoke.

"I… I don't know how I got here," Naruko answered the voice. "Who are you?" she asked.

A deep, dark chuckle made its way to her from beyond the bars. It resounded around the room; once again Naruko felt no fear, only a deep need, compelling her to find out who she was talking to.

"So the others have not told you about me? Foolish humans!" The last part it seemed was not meant for Naruko to hear, it was quieter than its first question.

"You make it sound as if you're not human," Naruko commented.

A barking laugh erupted around her. "Of course not, I, the greatest of the Bijuu, a _human_; you jest, little girl."

"Bijuu," the girl prompted.

"I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune," was the simple reply.

Naruko was stunned, and then came the anger, she had never felt such hatred before and she had hardly ever gotten angry at all. This monster standing in front of her was the one Hiruzen Ojii-chan had said killed her birth parents.

"_You_! You're the reason I've never had parents!" Naruko accused, she was shaking in a rage, "Show me your face you big mutt!" she stood up to her full height of 3 ft 5. It may not have been an impressive height, but for a four year old, she was quite tall.

Kyuubi barked another laugh, long and hard and then moved towards the light.

Naruko saw pair of glowing eyes first; large red irises with black slit pupils. The second thing she noticed was that he was very furry with long ears; under different circumstances she surely would have wanted to pet him. Red-orange colored fur, large sharp claw like hands, with nine long, thick and furry tails swished behind the beast as he wandered fully into the light and lay in front of the enormous metal bars holding him back.

Anger continued to course through her veins, her mother had been killed by this Bijuu and her father had died so that the rest of the village would be safe from this beast. And here it was; why was it here? And for that matter, _where was here?_ Deciding that Kyuubi might have some answers, Naruko took a deep breath.

"Fox, can you tell me where we are?"

Kyuubi scoffed. "Where do you _think_ you are?" was the snarky reply.

"I don't know; that's why I'm asking isn't it?" Naruko wanted to be anywhere else but here, staring into the eyes of her parent's murderer. Where was Jiraiya-sensei? Surely he was looking for her by now.

"Who taught you your manners brat? Tell them to find a new job." Kyuubi grinned; fangs glistening, dripping with saliva, each razor sharp tooth had to be at least twice the size of her.

"Fine, be that way, I'll find the way out myself." Naruko turned on her heel, intent on walking back the way she came.

"Wait." What _now?_

She looked over her shoulder, "yes?"

"We're in your mind." In her _mind_?

"Huh?"

"_I_ am sealed inside of _you_, your bastard father, the _Yondaime_," He spat the word. "He put me here before he died. And one day I will break this seal and I'll rip your body apart from the inside and nothing short of a miracle will stop me from razing this village to the fucking ground." He gave the equivalent of an evil smile. "First I'll kill your _Precious _Ojii-chan and Ko-chan and then I'll get your Inu-chan and your 'Tachi-chan, I'll rip the sinew from their bones-"

"You will not!" An enormous amount of chakra burst forth from the blonde haired girl who had been listening to Kyuubi's dark tirade, hot-red anger coursed through her body and with it a fierce protectiveness of her family and friends.

Her chakra swirled around her and then broke off, shooting through the bars of Kyuubi's cage, taking on the form of chains, wrapping him tightly and forcing him to the ground, holding him down.

The force of expelling that much chakra had exhausted Naruko, forcing her to her knees; sweat pouring down her brow, she gasped for breath, suddenly feeling drained.

She looked back at the Kyuubi, eyes narrowed, her breathing returning to normal; although she still felt incredibly tired. The Bijuu was still pinned by the chains she had summoned. Although where they had come from she had no idea.

"You won't touch them," Naruko spoke. "I won't let you near them, ever!"

Kyuubi growled in response.

"I want out of here, _now_!" The girl screamed at the beast, "Tell me how to get out."

"This is your mind, Human. Help yourself."

Naruko looked around; the room she was standing in had only one exit, which was the way she had come in. She threw one last look over at the Bijuu and turned leaving the way she came.

Wandering back through the numerous hallways once again, Naruko noticed that the further away from the cage she walked the darker the hallways seemed to be. Sloshing could be heard at every step, the water on the floor swishing around her ankles; although her feet didn't feel wet at all.

The hallways got darker and darker; and then there was the feeling of falling, like she had just stepped off of a cliff, wind whipped in her ears, and she found it was hard to breathe. When it felt like she couldn't take any more the feeling stopped.

The first thing she noticed after coming back to awareness, was that she was being gently shaken; and then there was a voice talking, calling her name. Opening her eyes, she squinted up at the sky, the brightness of the sun causing her to see black spots in her eyes.

"Finally, you've come around, Naruko. I was getting worried, what happened?"

Naruko looked to her right and saw Jiraiya sitting next to her on the grass; she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. She honestly didn't know what to say.

"How long was I asleep?" Naruko asked instead.

Jiraiya looked at her and quirked a brow, "only a few minutes."

"I… met the Kyuubi." Naruko looked down at her hands as she spoke, fearful of what Jiraiya might say. As she looked down, Jiraiya's eyes widened a fraction, quickly schooling his features her hurried to reassure the girl.

"And what did it say to you?" he asked gently.

That was the wrong thing to say however, without warning the blue eyed child burst into tears. "He-he said t-t-th-that he was gonna hu-hurt my fa-a-mily!" she bawled, jumping up and hurling herself at the large man, clutching his neck and soaking his shoulder with salty tears.

Jiraiya wrapped his large arms around her, shushing her, "He can't hurt you, Naruko. It's okay; your Daddy made it so that he wouldn't be able to hurt you, ever."

It was some time before he was able to calm her down enough to sit back on her own.

"Jiraiya-sensei, something else happened too. When I got mad at him these big ol' chains appeared outta nowhere and tripped him up and he was pinned down! How did I do that?" her eyes were still red from crying so much, but now, tears forgotten for the moment, curiosity taking the place of sadness.

Jiraiya had to think about that for a moment. Naruko's mother, Kushina had been able to manifest chains out of her own chakra. He had thought it had been simply a mastery of her chakra control, but if Naruko had the same ability by instinct then it must be a kekkei genkai. Jiraiya didn't know much about the Uzumaki clan. All he knew was that they were from a small country called 'Whirlpool', they were known for their longevity and had been feared because they were excellent seal masters; although they had been wiped out a long time ago and Kushina had been a refugee and came to Konoha to become the second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. She had been young then, no more than eight he supposed.

And so Jiraiya told her of her bloodline, or at least what he knew of it, and they talked a bit more about the fox, he explained the reasons Minato had to seal the fox and why she was chosen and they laughed at its misfortune when Naruko told him in more detail of how she had pinned it down.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Naruko age 6

A lot had happened in the two years since Naruko had started her training with Jiraiya. The Gama Sennin had her work on her chakra control and calligraphy mostly. Because of the enormous chakra reserves she had because of the Kyuubi, her chakra control was abysmal to put it lightly. He had started her on the leaf balancing exercise first. And once she had been able to hold it to her forehead for 2 hours, he had instructed her to add more leaves on different places of her body, the elbows, knees, back of the hands, her back, shoulders, belly and nose. It had taken a lot of time, but it was paying off, even if she didn't think it was. After she had mastered that he had her do tree climbing. She was still working on her mastery of that though; she still slid off the tree often or flew off of the bark using too much chakra.

In addition to that she had daily runs, Jiraiya stayed at the Estate while Inu ran around with her; once her run was complete she did a number of sit ups, chin ups, pushups and squats and then it was time for her writing lessons. It wasn't that she didn't know how to write, but Jiraiya hadn't gotten to where he was as a Seal Master by having sloppy brush strokes. One simple mistake could potentially cost your life if you weren't careful.

With all the teaching he had been doing the past couple of years it had started wearing on his nerves. He wasn't able to 'research' for his books as often as he would have liked; although his spy network was still intact, and he made regular checks with his nearby contacts.

His young charge wasn't training today. At the age of six, females wishing to attend the academy were required to attend a special class made just for Kunoichi, today was the first day. Teaching the girls how to be ladies; in their line of work, sometimes undercover missions were essential to a mission's success and girls who spent their childhoods learning to kill didn't always take the time to learn more feminine things; from flower arranging to dancing, singing, tea ceremonies and formal kimono. In later years the girls would learn of the dangers of becoming a Kunoichi. The worst possible thing that could be done to a Kunoichi was rape and it happened in the Shinobi world more than Jiraiya wanted to imagine. It was one of those sad truths; Kunoichi were taught to be more flexible and put great emphasis on speed to help avoid such things.

Tomorrow was the first day of the academy for this season. That also meant that Jiraiya would begin to teach her how to make her own seals. He would start off slow; explosive tags and storage scrolls and the like; moving at whatever speed she was comfortable with.

He hadn't taught her the academy three: the Bunshin, Kawarimi or Henge; allowing her to learn _something _from the academy besides the theory and history stuff. She was already learning to throw shuriken and kunai. She had not yet perfected the technique but she was getting there. Not much work had been done with the ninja wire though, honestly Jiraiya hardly used the stuff, he was past the need for it; he hadn't earned the title of Sannin by playing with string.

An excited voice carried by the wind alerted Jiraiya that Naruko was on the way home. Kami, the Sennin couldn't believe that Inu's ears hadn't fallen off after the years of looking after the bundle of sunshine; hearing her prattle on. He honestly loved her to death, but Kami the girl could _talk_. It was like she never ran out of breath at all and never ran out of things to talk about.

The ANBU and the young blond stopped a few feet away from Jiraiya, saying their goodbyes. The girl was holding a small bundle of flowers in one hand and before Inu left she handed him a pale orange flower. He accepted the small gift and bounded away, taking to the trees, his guard shift over for the day.

Coming to a stop before the Sannin, Naruko also handed him a light blue flower, he accepted putting the flower is his hair above his Hitai-ate; his was unique instead of the leaf symbol it had the kanji for 'oil' on it.

The six year old giggled at his display. And sat waiting for instructions from her sensei.

"I was waiting here for you to tell you we aren't gonna be trainin' today. Something came up and I have to leave the village for a few days. You can continue to try the tree climbing exercise by yourself, but I don't want you trying anything else, okay?"

Naruko nodded seriously. "Wha'cha leavin' the village for Ero-sensei?" Kami, he hated that nickname. Over the course of the two years he had been spending time and training with him, she had of course learned of his peeping on the women's bath houses and had dubbed him 'Ero-sensei; although if Naruko was in the bath houses he was nowhere to be seen; mortified by the mere thought of peeping on his young, innocent God-daughter; sadly other Kunoichi had caught on to this fact and whenever she went, other females flocked to the bath houses.

"I've got to take a message out to Iwagakure for the Old man. I won't be long, really. Don't worry about me. I want you to behave yourself at school, no pranks on the first day… but after that you have the green light, nothing too bad though, and if you use paint or other things that color stuff use washable stuff, that way they won't be too mad if you're caught, alright?"

Her large frown had slowly morphed into a full blown grin with Jiraiya's explanation of what was accepted as good behavior. "Take the day off of training today and go see Itachi or something. But I've really gotta go. See ya around, Kid." He shuffled over and she jumped up in his arms, offering a large hug and a parting kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Sensei."

He set her on her feet and she waved, running into the house.

* * *

A dawn of a new day and one Nara Shikamaru lay in bed thinking. Today he started school at the Ninja Academy with his peers. He was a year older than his best friend Chouji and wouldn't be in the same class. He had hoped his parents would put it off for a year so they may attend together but they had denied him, saying he wouldn't get to know his fiancée if he never actually met her.

Shikamaru had been told that the girl he was to wed, had to marry others as well, and that she didn't know of his engagement yet, not until next year they had said. His parents had told him that he wasn't allowed to tell the girl and that someone else was going to when she was seven. He had once seen a picture of her and knew her name was Namikaze Naruko, but that was as far as his info went. He had never actually met her, not even a glimpse in the street.

As far as Shikamaru knew it was uncommon for anyone to marry more than one person and he didn't know how he felt about that. He and Chouji had shared many things, from toys to food, but he didn't know if he could share a person. The brown eyed boy was not naturally a jealous person, but if he had had to share his Mother and Father he could imagine being jealous of the loss of attention. As an only child he was doted on by his Mother. She was strict, making him do chores, but she was a great cook and he loved her very much. His Father was a busy man, but he always found time to spend with Shikamaru if he asked for it; when Shikamaru was five his Dad had taught him to play Shogi, and they made it a ritual to play at least once a day ever since.

"Shikamaru, it's time to get up and ready for school!" Yoshino called from somewhere downstairs.

"Troublesome," was the muttered reply, but he got up anyway, heading downstairs to breakfast.

* * *

Across Konoha another child was just getting out of bed as well. Naruko rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up, turning to look out the large window that was near the bed. It was a beautiful morning, the sun would be scorching today, she knew.

She got up and brushed her long hair, tying it up in a messy bun, and then rummaged in the closet for some clothes. She chose a pair of black short shorts and a short yellow skirt and a red tank top. Satisfied with her appearance she headed down for breakfast.

After breakfast, Hiruzen turned to her, "I won't be able to go with you this morning, so I'll have Inu there with you alright? He won't be around while you're in the building; he'll drop you off and wait with you and sign some papers and then he'll be back to pick you up after school. I promise I'll make it up to you, if I get the chance today we'll go have ramen." He smiled then, the sweet blond could be so accommodating some days and difficult on others, he was glad that today she seemed to be in a good mood. "You're going to receive your equipment at the Academy. All the parents and guardians pay for them before hand so everyone starts off with the same packages. The kunai and shuriken won't be as sharp and the ones you've been handling with Jiraiya but they'll do."

"Thanks, Ojii-chan." Naruko got up from the table and hugged him then moved on to Konohamaru giving him kiss on the forehead and ruffling his short brown hair. She made her way over to the Matron who held out a bento for lunch; murmuring a 'thank you.' On the way out she put on her new high heeled Shinobi sandals, specially made for Kunoichi; and made her way out the door.

The blonde didn't stop to wait for Inu; she knew he was either already tailing her or waiting just ahead. He had never hidden his presence from her, although she didn't know why; most people with ANBU escorts never knew they were there, and the Jinchuuriki was sure she wouldn't have ever noticed him if he hadn't revealed himself day after day. Most days she carried on until she felt as if she had gained another shadow. He hardly ever announced his presence, just ghosting along until she noticed he was walking along beside her. If she greeted him, he would reply similarly, if she said nothing, he stayed silent.

Without the presence of friends her own age Naruko had decided that Inu and Itachi were her best friends and treated them as such, sharing her stories, her jokes, her life. She wondered what he looked like behind the mask.

Naruko looked to her right and saw Inu walking along just a step behind her. She grinned, "Nice mask, Bunny-chan."

Instead of Inu's usual Dog mask he wore a mask of a cute Bunny; with a pink button nose and whiskers with tall ears attached to the mask. She had doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach.

The ANBU growled in response, "Naruko, would you mind if we took a quick detour on the way to school? _Someone_ has taken all the masks at ANBU Headquarters, and I can't walk around with this on my face." The way he had put emphasis on the word 'someone', made Naruko think that he knew who the culprit was.

Stifling her giggles, she nodded her head, she was still early anyway.

Inu opened his arms, his silent gesture of asking if he could carry her. She moved closer and he scooped her up, flipping her around and placing her on his back. "Hold on," he warned.

She shrieked as he jumped up onto the roof of the nearest building and ran, faster, faster, she enjoyed these rides. Laughter bubbled up inside her again and she let it out, enjoying the moment; she loved the speed and couldn't wait to be able to travel like this herself one day.

The ANBU knew how much she enjoyed these rides as well and made extra leaps, flips and unexpected turns, they were unnecessary but he done it for her, to make her happy. All too soon they came upon a large apartment building and Naruko slowed to a walk. He placed her on her feet and they made their way into the building and up two flights of stairs, stopping at an unmarked door, Inu produced a set of keys from somewhere, opened the door and strode in.

"Come in for a moment," Inu called back, already making his way into the apartment. Naruko supposed that this must be where he lived. She shut the door behind her and stayed by the door; not afraid, but not wanting to know if there were any pictures around either, she had been told by him that ANBU never showed their faces while on duty, and she didn't want to break that trust.

She was in a small kitchen, there was a small square wooden table on the other side of the room from where she stood; there were three chairs. The kitchen counter was neat, if a bit cluttered but it wasn't dishes cluttering the counter, but bowls of fruit and a few loaves of bread, a pile of books stacked and a microwave. There were cupboards lining the wall over the counter and a large fridge stood beside the counter, on the other side of the counter sat the stove. There was a door next to her that she supposed must be a closet. The walls were an off white and the floor seemed to have a hardwood finish.

The doorway leading to what she supposed was the living room stood to her left and around a corner, she could see a part of a black leather couch and a grey colored carpet floor.

Inu had only been gone for a few minutes and when he returned he had on his usual Dog mask. "Thanks for that, Naruko-chan. It's kind of against protocol, but it'll be our little secret, right?"

Naruko beamed in response, still filled with mirth over the Bunny mask. They made their way back down the stairs and outside. And once again the Shinobi slung the blonde girl onto his back and raced to their destination, the young blond laughing the whole way.

Upon their arrival to the Academy, Naruko could see many other children milling about, some standing with their parents, while others had branched off to meet old friends and to make new ones. Many of the parents were talking to other parents and a few were talking to a couple of Chuunin who sat behind a desk in front of the building.

"What do we do now, Inu-chan?" Naruko asked.

"Hmm, my guess would be to ask the Chuunin."

"M'kay," Naruko took the lead, walking up to the desk and waiting patiently to be acknowledged by the gossiping adults.

Both Chuunin looked to be in their early twenties, the first was a man with shoulder length white hair, he wore a bandanna on this head with the Hitai-ate on the forehead; He had grey eyes and a pale face; he wore a long sleeved blue shirt underneath a green Chuunin vest and blue pants with blue Shinobi sandals.

The other man had dark brown hair tied up into a small ponytail, his Hitai-ate adorned his forehead; he had dark brown eyes; he was tanned and had a large scar running horizontally across his nose, he wore the same uniform as the first man.

The scarred man noticed the blonde girl first, "what can I do for you, miss…"

"Namikaze Naruko," she supplied, "Today is my first day and Ojii-chan said we had to sign some papers. Who are you?"

The brown haired man shuffled around some papers on the desk, searching for her name on his list and produced some papers, "My name is Umino Iruka, and I will be your instructor this year. This man sitting next to me is Mizuki and he is to be the class' assistant instructor."

He held out a hand full of papers, Naruko reached out to take them, Inu grabbed them instead; he leafed through them and satisfied that they weren't threatening in any way, handed them to Naruko.

The young girl smiled apologetically at Iruka, it was not the first time he had done that, and wouldn't be the last. Inu produced a pen from somewhere and handed it to Naruko and they walked away from the desk and settled under a tree in the large academy yard.

"You know that it scares people when you do that, right?"

"Do what?" he asked.

Naruko giggled, "When you act like a threatening bodyguard."

"I am a threatening bodyguard," was his matter-of-fact response.

There was silence and then they both burst out laughing. When the mirth had passed on Naruko looked at the papers. They were straight forward, warnings of the dangers of Shinobi, yada, yada.

The girl handed them back to Inu, and he read them in more detail. Out of the four pages everything seemed in order; that is until he had gotten to the third page and looked at the fine print. It looked like a form sheet for appliance to the academy, with minor differences here and there.

Upon further reading he realized that it was a well disguised marriage contract, to a 35 year old man named Shinta. Shinta was the name of one of the Civilian Councilors. How dare someone try to take advantage of Naruko; angry, Inu folded the sheet and tucked it into one of the numerous pants pockets he had and handed two of the papers back to Naruko. "You sign these and I sign this one."

She nodded her head and signed her name with the pen he had given her; then handed it back to him and he signed the other one.

They stayed sitting under the tree for another twenty minutes. Inu was propped up against the tree, legs stretched out in front of him and Naruko had lain on her back, her head resting on the ANBU's thigh.

He didn't mind; while he was sort of a pervert; he read Jiraiya's books after all; he was not the kind of man to touch, or look at a child in such a way. Naruko had called him one of her best friends and he called her friend in return, and had been her protector since she was born.

Inu noticed that students were starting to head into the academy to their classrooms, he pointed this out to her and they got up, said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Naruko walked up the brown haired Chuunin who had given her the papers and handed them back, she was about to walk away again when he stopped her, "Hey, where is your Guardian?"

"He's gone, Ojii-chan said he would drop me off and sign stuff, is there a problem?"

"Well, no, but I was wondering why you had an ANBU escort?" the Instructor looked kind of embarrassed to be asking.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" Naruko asked in return.

The brunette scratched the back of his head, sheepish, "Uh, no?"

Naruko had never met someone who hadn't even heard of her name before; every time she went around town people greeted her, people praised her looks and called her adorable; shop owners asked her opinions of food and items and clothing. And this guy didn't know her?

She didn't know how to explain herself, "I'm um, Naruko and I live with the Hokage… and um, my Daddy was the Yondaime," straight to the point.

Iruka's eyes widened and his mouth opened in a small 'o.'

"Ah, my apologies, Naruko-Sama, I… I didn't mean to be rude or… or anythi—"

"No, please don't call me that. I don't like it when they call me that." The blond looked down, a small frown on her face.

"Okay, Naruko- Sam- I mean, Naruko-san. Um, shall we go inside?"

"Yup," Naruko skipped inside.

When all the parents had left and the students were seated Iruka and Mizuki stood at the front of the classroom, they introduced themselves and started a long story about the history of the school.

After that Iruka took a roll call, Naruko took note of the students their names were called, until she heard, "Namikaze Naruko."

There were whispers all around at the sound of her name, "Here," she called raising her hand, feeling slightly embarrassed over the attention.

"Nara Shikamaru," the teacher continued.

"Here," called a boy in the row behind her. He had fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and narrow brown eyes. His attire was rather plain, consisting of a dark grey long sleeved shirt, adorned on both the sleeves with a circle with a line through it; that may have been a clan symbol; brown pants, and blue sandals.

The teacher continued to call the roll until the last name, "Rock, Lee."

"Here!" called the enthusiastic boy; he had black hair, short in the front with a long braid in the back and thick black eyebrows and large round eyes.

"Alright, the first thing I want us to do today is a quiz, I want to know what you know."

Mizuki and Iruka started handing out test papers. Iruka told them they could start as soon as they received their papers. Naruko looked over the questions and decided that she knew the answers to at least half of them, she got to work.

* * *

Elsewhere Inu made his way to the Hokage's office, a piece of paper clutched in his fist, he was going to make sure the man responsible for the marriage contract was going to pay. If Inu hadn't read those documents Naruko would have signed them and she would have been married to some old man without her knowledge; Shinta would have had every right to claim her too and the marriage wouldn't have been dissolved easily.

* * *

By the time everyone was done their tests it was time for lunch and their Instructor told them that they were allowed outside but not to leave the grounds.

Naruko made her way back to the tree she and Inu had sat under this morning. When she got there, however there was already a boy lying on the grass underneath the tree. "Um, do you mind if I sit here too?" she asked.

"I don't mind," said the boy, he looked up at her; it was the Nara boy whose name had been called after hers that morning.

She took a seat next to him leaning back into the tree and fished her bento out of her small school knapsack. Shikamaru sat up as well and started eating his own lunch.

"Hey," said the boy suddenly. "Do you know how to play Shogi?

* * *

Author's Note: First of all thank you to my first reviewer Zelga Lim Li! For reviewing and telling me about the mistakes that were made. I've had the idea for this story mapped out in my head, and yes, this story will follow most major canon events.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Naruko age seven

Sarutobi Hiruzen finished his paperwork at the office and headed home. Today was the day that he would tell Naruko of her engagement to Nara Shikamaru. He was apprehensive, after all she was quite close to Itachi and probably wouldn't take kindly to Hiruzen making agreements without her permission; he sighed, it was going to be a _long_ day.

It was a quiet mid-afternoon in November. The air was crisp and Sarutobi had the sudden thought to pick up some Ramen to share with Naruko before he broke the news. Ramen _always_ made her happy. A quick detour to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand and four large miso ramen to go; Sarutobi was all set.

At home he made his way to his Study and asked the Matron on the way to send Naruko in right away. He sat and waited and all too soon He and his young charge were slurping on their snack.

Once done, Sarutobi turned to the young girl. Today she was wearing a white and pink kimono tied with a red obi; long blonde hair spilling over small shoulders mid way down her back with two dragonfly clips holding her bangs out of her face; she had crystal blue eyes that seemed to stare into your soul and a smile that could melt the darkest of hearts.

"Naruko I have something to tell you. It's very important and I don't want you to interrupt until I've finished, okay? You'll probably have many questions." The girl perked up, listening attentively.

"Because you are the last of your clan, you have to marry at least 4 men by the time of your nineteenth birthday. This ensures that your clan will not die out and your children will become your new clan." He paused to let that sink in. Sarutobi had actually given her almost an extra year to marry her 4 chosen, instead of 4 before eighteen; he had the council agree on before nineteen, she would still be eighteen, so it was kind of a loophole to give her more time. Naruko's expression had darkened somewhat, but she didn't interrupt and he continued on.

"You already know that you and Itachi are engaged; but there was another proposal made that day as well that I have not told you about. His parents had wanted to adopt you, but I had told them it wouldn't be possible with the engagement. However I told them that they would be able to adopt you when you turned seven." Naruko was glaring at him now; she was angry, very angry.

"Next week you will be moving in with your fiancée and his family–" the old Hokage was cut off here, as Naruko had jumped up from her seated position on the small couch. She stared at him for a few more moments and then ran from the room with tears in her eyes.

"Naruko! Wait, Naruko," but she was gone.

Hiruzen decided that he would leave her be for now; he would explain the rest when she had the time to cool off.

He made some hand seals using a jutsu to call a particular ANBU. Immediately there was a puff of smoke and Inu was standing in front of the Hokage.

"You called, Hokage-Sama?" Inu questioned.

"It's Naruko, I've upset her Kakashi, and she left the estate just a little while ago. I want you to go with her. She'll come back when she's ready to."

"Yes, sir," came the reply and with another 'poof' the ANBU was gone.

Tailing Naruko hadn't been very hard. And if one knew her as well as Inu did, then they would know she was heading to the Uchiha compound. Sure enough, when he found her she was a quarter of the way there, stumbling a bit with tear tracks running down her whisker marked face.

The silent ANBU dropped from a roof, landing lightly in front of her, blocking the way. "Ohayo, Naruko-chan, going somewhere?" he waited for her reply.

"Go away, Inu-chan! Ojii-chan sent you to get me, didn't he? I won't go back, I can't!" Fresh tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Yes, he sent me, but not to take you back, just to watch over you while you're out around, that's all," Inu soothed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

Naruko looked at him for a few minutes. It was almost impossible to tell if he was lying or not with the mask covering his face, but to her knowledge he had never lied to her before; in fact most of the time he was brutally honest; painfully so.

"Well, I'm going to see 'Tachi-chan," she said and the Shinobi fell in step behind her.

The girl wondered what else her Grandpa was keeping from her. How many more of these men were she engaged to? She was seven! Being engaged to Itachi was overwhelming enough; but if other boys doted on her the way that Itachi did then maybe—No, she had to be loyal to her first love.

She made her way through the compound in a daze, ignoring the entire goings on around her; Inu walked along in silence.

Fugaku wasn't home and neither was Mikoto or Sasuke, so the sun kissed blond decided to go out back to Itachi's training area, listening for signs of Itachi's training.

Naruko found him sleeping underneath one of the larger trees in his usual training area. Itachi had grown much taller, standing at the height of 5'3 at the age of twelve. He had kept his hair long, continuing to keep it in a low ponytail he had had ever since she could remember.

He was an ANBU now, and had been one since last year. It made Naruko jealous that he was already so far away from her in strength. Ever since joining ANBU, he was always more tired after missions and they had not seen each other as much. Naruko was glad he was here now though.

Inu stayed a distance away; and Naruko ran up to Itachi falling to her knees on the mossy earth next to the young man. He had woken up upon hearing footsteps entering the clearing, looking up at his fiancée he instantly noted that she had been crying.

"What's wrong, Naruko?" Itachi asked, alarmed that something could upset the usually cheerful blonde.

"I don't want to, 'Tachi-chan," she sniffed, "He can't make me!"

"Who's making you do something you don't want to do?" was his reply, trying to grasp the situation.

"It's Ojii-chan! He said I had to marry other people and that I was going to move in with a boy I don't know, and I don't want to and I want to stay with you and I don't wanna marry anyone else!"

Itachi was always amazed when she talked that fast, how could anyone possibly have that much air in their lungs?

"Oh, I see," it had dawned on Itachi what she was talking about. He had known for a long time that he wouldn't be alone in marrying her; and he had accepted that. If she was just now finding out she must be shocked and afraid of his rejection, to come to him crying.

"Naruko, I've known all along that you would have to marry others. Don't let it bother you, okay?"

"You _knew_!?" Fresh tears started all over again.

Itachi hauled her over onto his lap; brushing the hair out of her face, he spoke again.

"Have you met the other boy yet?" Itachi had no knowledge of who he was.

"I left before Ojii-chan could say anymore," said Naruko, guilt taking over her cute features.

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad, and if it is bad you'll still have me, and I'll kill him for you, okay?"

The blond sighed, "Okay."

Itachi smiled at her then. "Naruko, I have a mission in an hour, can I leave it in Inu-san's hands to get you home?"

"Yeah, thanks for talking to me about this, 'Tachi-chan."

Itachi hummed in response. They both made their way to the front of the house, Naruko's tears had dried up, but her eyes were still puffy and red from crying.

"I'll be gone for a few weeks this time so stay safe, I'll let you know when I've returned."

They hugged goodbye, and the young girl made her way home, intent on hearing the rest of Hiruzen's explanation.

Sarutobi was sitting on the doorstep when they returned; Inu left in a puff of smoke and the old man motioned for Naruko to take a seat beside him.

"Naruko, I know you're upset but I only did what I thought was best. I never meant for it to hurt your feelings."

The girl sighed. "I know,"

"Nara Shikamaru," he said suddenly.

In the year since that first day when Shikamaru and Naruko had eaten lunch together they had become best friends, they played Shogi and they played pranks and they trained together and the list went on. The pineapple haired boy had even introduced Naruko to Chouji and Ino as well.

She had come to understand that the Nara wasn't very motivated, and loved to watch the clouds, but she also had noticed how very smart he was and had convinced him to put effort into his studies. She had said 'if you want to spend the rest of your life being lazy, you have to be smarter and stronger than everyone else first'; of course he had just looked at her funny, but eventually he had begun to put forth more effort and his grades were no longer scraping passes but were now climbing to be in the top 3. Naruko was the top in their year, tied with a boy named Hyuuga Neji.

"What about Shika-chan?" Naruko questioned.

"He is your fiancée."

"_What?_"

"I was going to tell you earlier, but you ran off before I could."

"But—, that's not—, are you sure?" Naruko asked dumbly.

Sarutobi chuckled, good naturedly. "I assure you I'm sure. Are you still angry with me?"

"Does he know about this?" she asked.

"I would imagine so," replied the salt and peppered haired man.

"Well, then, when I get my hands on him, I'm going to beat that sneaky bastard into the Hokage Monument." She looked quite serious.

"Ah, ah, ah," the man chided, "I had asked for them to keep it a secret, I had wanted to tell you myself, when you were old enough. Don't blame Shikamaru." He had to cool her down before she shot off half-cocked.

"Fine, but why do I have to live with them? Shikamaru and his family are great, but you and Konohamaru are my family too." Naruko looked very sad at the thought of leaving the home she'd always known. Truthfully, Hiruzen had grown much attached to her and wanted her to continue to live with them as a family; even though the blonde girl wasn't blood related to them, he thought of her as such and always would.

"Don't worry so much, Naruko, you'll get wrinkles." She scrunched up her nose and Sarutobi laughed. "This place will always be your home, and you'll always be welcome here, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about this, but a promise is a promise, and Yoshino and Shikaku have been waiting for you for seven years. Let's not make them wait anymore."

She looked like she wanted to argue the point, but seemed to change her mind at the last moment and pouted instead.

The next day at the Academy, Naruko met up with her new fiancée. First she smacked him over the back of the head, and then she drew him up in a big hug and forgave him for keeping the secret of their engagement; the both of them then went to class, everything back to normal with no hard feelings.

Over the next few days Naruko packed her belongings with the help of the maids at the Sarutobi estate. It was harder than she thought to pack, leaving her family behind while she went somewhere else, but she knew in her heart that everything would all work out in the end.

Naruko and Shikamaru entered the room with the last of the boxes and set them with the others. The sun-kissed blonde had finally moved her belongings from the Sarutobi estate to her new bedroom at the Nara Compound.

It had taken the whole week to pack and move everything; Shikaku had gotten most of it himself in a storage scroll, but Naruko wanted to do the rest herself. So with school at the academy and training with Jiraiya, she hadn't had much time to spare for moving.

Her new room was nice, spacious, and had a large window overlooking the grounds where the numerous deer grazed.

By far her favorite thing about the room was that there was a large sliding door connecting her room to Shikamaru's, they had decided to keep it open so that it would be one large room between them.

Yoshino had been very kind and motherly to Naruko; they had first met some time after she and Shikamaru had become friends and Naruko liked her very much. Yoshino was a strict woman, who made sure Shikamaru did all of his chores, but underneath the stern expression there was always kindness in her eyes. She had long dark hair that she tied back in a low ponytail, dark eyes and fair skin.

Shikaku was a different story though. He was a busy man so she hadn't had much of a chance to get to know him. He was like an older, larger version of Shikamaru. He had two deep, long scars on the right side of his face, the same pineapple hair style, a goatee along with the nearly always tired expression. He wore his standard Shinobi outfit most days, with a deer skin vest over his green Jounin vest. He was a tall man, lean but muscular, with the same brown eyes as his son. Shikaku held a very important position in the village as the Jounin Commander of Konohagakure's Shinobi forces; he was also a Clan Head, so he attended meetings with other Clan Heads, the village council and the Hokage often.

Shikamaru's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I have to go and visit Chouji today,"

"Hmm, it's gonna take a while to get all of this unpacked, you go on ahead Shika-chan", Shikamaru scowled at the 'chan' suffix, but left the room leaving her to her own devices.

* * *

Two weeks passed and Naruko was enjoying her time living with her new family. Last week she had finally spent some time with Shikaku during a game of Shogi. She had lost quite badly, but was happy for the chance to get to know her father-in-law.

It was nice out today, so while Shikamaru was out with Chouji, the young blond found herself sitting atop the Yondaime's head, gazing down at the Village.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" said a quiet voice from behind.

Naruko shrieked and jumped up, kunai in hand, ready to defend herself, only to realize that she recognized the voice that had spoken and lowered her weapon.

"Itachi!" Naruko nearly tripped up in her haste to get to Itachi as fast as she was able to. He scooped her up into a tight hug, chuckling lightly.

"How've you been Naruko-hime?" Itachi asked setting her on her feet lightly and moving to sit down and pulling his fiancée onto his lap.

"Great! You'll never guess who I've been engaged to all this time." She sounded excited.

"Me?" he deadpanned.

The blond giggled, "Shikamaru. I'm all moved in now, too."

"Oh? Do you like it there?" he asked.

"It's not the same as Ojii-chan's, but I do like it. You have to meet Shikamaru! I think you two would get along."

"Maybe some other time, Hime; I've only got today to rest up before I'm deployed on another mission."

"M'kay," the blond responded, sounding sleepy.

Itachi looked at the young girl in his arms and watched as she slowly fell asleep. It was hard for him to be away from her for so long during each mission. He endured only to see her bright smile again and again. The young prodigy knew that he would be promoted to ANBU Captain very soon; and knew also that he would have even less time with his young love and his younger brother Sasuke.

The young man let out a mournful sigh and stood up with Naruko still nestled in his arms, deciding to take her home to the Nara Compound.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Naruko age 11

Today was the day of Shikamaru and Naruko's graduation exam. It was a few months earlier than their classmates, but the Hokage had approved them, because there simply wasn't anything to gain by holding the young Shinobi in training back any longer. Jiraiya had been waiting long enough and had wanted to get the ball rolling so to speak.

It wasn't as if the Hokage thought that Naruko and Shikamaru were better than their classmates, and he wasn't trying to play favorites but in peacetime the standard graduation age was 12. And the reason for the age restriction was because many children really weren't ready to take up arms as a true Shinobi. The Old man knew without a doubt that they were ready and to have them in the classroom confined to the Village was stagnating their training.

Instead of disrupting the classroom, Sarutobi had the kids meet at training ground 23, along with Jiraiya and the whole Shinobi Council.

"Nara Shikamaru and Namikaze Naruko, you both have already taken your written exam; I wish to judge the rest. Both of you get ready for the weapons portion," Said Sarutobi, taking a puff of his pipe.

Both children stood at the ready in front of their target.

"You have ten kunai and ten shuriken. You need to hit the center of the target a minimum of 7 times with kunai and 7 times with shuriken. Begin!"

Naruko stepped up to throw first and let fly all ten kunai hitting the target 9 out of 10. Satisfied she took aim again and let fly the Shuriken hitting the target 10/10.

Shikamaru stepped forward to take his turn, 9/10 with kunai and 9/10 with shuriken.

"Excellent. For the taijutsu exam we have a Chuunin here to spar with each of you. Hold your own as best you can for two minutes. Begin!"

Again Naruko was the first to step up to go first. One of the two Chuunin came forward and smiled at her. "Kamizuki Izumo," he spoke and gave a formal bow. The man looked to be in his early twenties, standing at 5'5 ft with brown hair and dark eyes. His hair was combed in such a way that it covered one of his eyes. He wore the standard Shinobi outfit, his Hitai-ate in a bandanna style showing the Leaf symbol in the front and a green Chuunin vest.

"Namikaze Naruko," the girl replied, returning the bow.

"The use of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu is prohibited in this battle, as well as weapons. Ready? Begin!"

As soon as the Hokage gave the word Naruko did a back flip, putting a little space between her and the Chuunin standing before her. She eyed him warily; he had not yet made a move to come at her, he was just standing there in the basic academy stance, waiting for her to come to him.

She put on a burst of speed and attacked aiming for his head, Izumo made to dodge only to get kicked in the ribs, he had no time to recover however, when she went at him again; he blocked her punches and got through her guard kicking her in the chest, she flew back landing in a crouch and skidding to a stop.

Naruko stood, cracking her knuckles, she smirked at him and flew at him again; she was smaller than him, so it was harder for him to watch all of her limbs, as she was a blur of motion.

On the sidelines the Shinobi Council watched, amazed at her skill, fighting against one of the Village's most promising Chuunin and holding her own in Taijutsu.

Naruko was fast, instead of blocking most hits she dodged; she feinted a lot, giving her opponent the idea that she was aiming right when in fact she'd hit left. Izumo could not form a pattern for her attacks and as a result got smacked often.

Pushing through her guard he grabbed her leg as she brought it up for a kick and threw her from him, catching his breath and giving himself time to think about her taijutsu. The blonde came at him again and the fight continued.

After the two minutes were over, Sarutobi called a halt. Izumo had a split lip and the beginnings of a black eye. Naruko was slightly out of breath, she hadn't gotten hit in the face but the way she was bent slightly, suggested that her ribs were a little bruised.

"Next up, Nara Shikamaru against Hagane Kotetsu." The Chuunin stepped forward and gave a slight bow like Izumo had. He was similar in height and build as Izumo; he had long spiky black hair and dark eyes with the Hitai-ate on his forehead. He wore bandages covering the bridge of his nose and the standard Shinobi gear along with the green Chuunin vest.

Shikamaru also gave a bow and then waited for Sarutobi to begin the match.

"The use of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and weaponry is prohibited. Ready? Begin!"

Kotetsu decided to start things off, taking Shikamaru head on. Shikamaru dodged and used his elbow to get Kotetsu in the back of the head. Kotetsu stumbled a bit, but caught his footing and went for Shikamaru again; they parried blows back and forth, neither getting a hit on the other.

The fight continued on, the pineapple haired boy holding his own until Sarutobi called the match.

At this point the Shinobi council had started to agree with Sarutobi's decision to let the kids graduate early. Most were quite impressed with the taijutsu showing.

"The last exam is the Ninjutsu portion," Began the old Sandaime, "Shikamaru please demonstrate 3 Bunshin, a Kawarimi and the Henge."

Shikamaru stepped up and performed the basic Bunshin no jutsu creating 3 clones, as they puffed out of existence he performed the Kawarimi and switched places with Naruko and lastly he henged into a perfect copy of Jiraiya.

"Excellent! You pass, here is your Hitai-ate; Good luck Shikamaru-kun!" said the Hokage, smiling kindly.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Naruko, perform the same please." He continued.

The Jinchuuriki had never been able to perform the basic Bunshin because of her large chakra reserves due to the Fox. So instead she formed a cross shaped hand sign and said very clearly, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Three identical solid clones popped into existence for a few seconds and then were dispelled. The sun-kissed blonde performed the Kawarimi with her ANBU escort Inu, who she had sensed in the trees surrounding the training ground and then performed the Henge looking like an exact replica of Hyuuga Hiashi.

The Hokage then stepped forward and handed her the Hitai-ate. "I'm very proud of you today, Naruko. You've done so well, Congratulations!"

"Thanks Ojii-chan! I'll be the first female Hokage in no time!" she emphasized her exclamation by pumping her fist in the air.

Sarutobi chuckled, "we'll see, Naruko-chan."

The Third took a few steps back and appraised both children, "You both are now Genin of Konoha. Remember always that we fight for the Leaf, our Country and most importantly its people."

With those wise words the Hokage left the training grounds followed after by the Council until all those who were left were Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Shikaku and Naruko.

Shikaku had time and again been impressed the young blonde. She had done what he and Yoshino had not been able to and gotten Shikamaru off his ass to train. She had fit in so well with his family and Shikaku loved her as if she was his own daughter. As for Shikamaru, Shikaku knew that he was a genius among geniuses. He had been amazed at how his son had grown but was worried about how both kids were being thrust into the Shinobi life so soon. He knew they were strong enough. But still he had doubts like any parent would.

"Let's go and celebrate, shall we?" Shikaku grinned.

* * *

Two days later, Naruko and Shikamaru were summoned to the Hokage's office. Naruko was wearing black short shorts and a dark blue short skirt with a pale yellow tank top; she had on high heeled Kunoichi sandals and was wearing her Hitai-ate on her forehead. Her hair was tied in two pigtails that rested behind her (Like Tsunade's pigtails) and black fingerless gloves with silver plates on the back of them.

Shikamaru's attire was rather plain, consisting of a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back with a circle with a line through it, his blue forehead protector worn around his left arm, brown pants, and blue sandals.

Both new Genin stood in front of the desk awaiting the Sandaime to speak. "Both of you have graduated ahead of your class, as such there are only two of you, there are other Genin available to be placed with you to round out a three-man team, but we have other plans for you."

Sarutobi took a few deep draws of his pipe, studying the two intently before continuing, "We have decided that the both of you will be a two-man team with Jiraiya as your Jounin-Sensei. But, this is only temporary; if and when Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino pass their graduation test when their time comes, I will be placing Shikamaru with them to round out this generation's Ino-Shika-Chou team as their Father's before them. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, Hokage-Sama", they both chorused.

"Then, Jiraiya is waiting for you at training ground six, dismissed."

* * *

"_You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live… if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me… and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life. And one day stand before me with _these _eyes."_

Uchiha Sasuke had always hated Naruko. The blonde girl just never seemed to realize that he never wanted her around.

After 'That Man' had killed the Uchiha, three years ago, Naruko had taken it upon herself to _check up _on him a few times a month. He had tried, once, to predict her visits and not be home when she came by; but she had waited at his place until he returned; it had taken him two days to cave in and go to her.

And she always had questions. 'Have you been eating enough?', 'are all of the lights working?' 'Does it get cold at night?'

In a very deep, deep, dark place in his mind, he knew she was just trying to help him. But alongside that thought, there was another; it's all her fault.

He blamed her for what happened to his clan and she knew it. She had always known that. He didn't care if she was the daughter of the Yondaime, one day he would make her pay, along with 'That Man.'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jiraiya was a tough teacher when he wanted to be, despite his own proclamations of being a super pervert. In his opinion, if you wanted to be a Shinobi, you had to have guts and the will to never give up.

Shikamaru thought that it was troublesome.

It had been two months since they had started training exclusively with the Gama Sennin and Shikamaru had never worked so hard in his life. When they weren't doing ridiculous D-rank missions, both he and Naruko were run ragged, training.

His young Kunoichi partner was becoming quite adept at Fujin jutsu. She had forty clones a day that spent time practicing their calligraphy and trying out the seals that Jiraiya taught her. It was scary how fast Naruko could learn ninjutsu, and anytime Jiraiya taught her anything, she would practice it until she mastered it, down to using very little of the required hand seals. When he and Naruko would spar, she always beat him. Not easily, but the fact that he could not out smart her was troubling.

Shikamaru, himself, had noticed that with the help of Jiraiya he was able to increase his chakra reserves exponentially, and in turn could hold the _Kagemane no jutsu _for much longer. At home with his father, they had begun working on another clan jutsu; Shikaku had told him that he hadn't planned on teaching him more of the clan jutsu until he made Chuunin at least, but had changed his mind after seeing him and Naruko train day after day.

Every day, Shikamaru was required to play three games of Shogi against Jiraiya and had not yet managed to beat him; which for the young Nara was very frustrating, just as he had yet to best his own father at the game.

"Oi, are you listening?" Jiraiya's voice cut in, disrupting his thoughts.

The Nara looked over at his teacher and Naruko; they were both watching him, as if they had been trying to get his attention for some time.

"Sorry," he apologized, walking over to where they sat underneath a large tree and sitting as well.

"As I was saying," Jiraiya-sensei continued. "Ahem, tomorrow we're going to get our first C-rank mission. I want you both prepared to leave in the morning. I'll be checking your weapons pouches and supplies to make sure you've packed what you'll need. We'll be going to the Hokage tower, to get our mission scroll, and meet the client. I'd rather leave for the mission right after, so be prepared. Take the rest of the day to rest up, and meet me at the tower at 7 am."

"Finally, no more D-ranks!" Naruko was excited. The young Nara heir was as well. Painting fences and walking dogs and babysitting and carrying groceries for people every day was rather tedious.

* * *

The following morning dawned, the January air crisp, a fine layer of snow had covered all of Konoha during the night, but the weather did nothing to deter the village merchants from setting up their carts to sell their wares, nor did it stop civilians and Shinobi alike from going on with their usual business.

Naruko and Shikamaru made their way to the Hokage tower, the Nara stifling several yawns along the way. Upon entering the building, Jiraiya fell into step with them and they continued on to the Mission room.

The room was large and bare, save for a few desks. Sitting behind each desk were two Chuunin, handing out mission scrolls to other Shinobi in line. Each desk handed out a specific type of Mission: D-ranks for the desk at the far left of the room, then C-ranks, B-ranks to the next desk and the last desk, behind which the Hokage sat, were handing out A-rank and S-rank missions. The line for this desk seemed rather small in comparison to the others.

Jiraiya led the way to the lineup for C-rank missions; after a short wait, the Genin moved up to the desk, which was manned by their old teacher Umino Iruka and a Chuunin neither recognized.

"Eh? Trying your hand at a C-rank are you? Let's see here…" Iruka browsed down the list.

"I'd like to pick the mission, if you don't mind," spoke up Jiraiya after a moment.

"Ah, sure, Jiraiya-sama,"

The Sannin took a moment to read the mission descriptions and made a decision.

"I've been hearing some odd rumors out of Nami no Kuni recently, we'll take this one."

He signed for the mission and they headed out towards the Village gates. "The Daimyo of the Land of Waves has recently lost a lot of money, he wants to know why. We won't have to check in with him when we get there, only when the mission is complete."

Before leaving, Jiraiya checked their packs, and satisfied, they left the Village.

The weather was nice; the light snow that had blanketed Konoha during the night was now melting. In Hi no Kuni, snow hardly ever lasted more than two days.

The party of three made good time, moving silently through the trees of Fire Country; after a time, the trees started to thin, and the air became slightly salty. Naruko, whose nose was rather sensitive, sneezed many times.

Jiraiya had taught his Genin how to water walk, so once they had hit the shore line, they continued onwards into the sea. He knew that it would not take long to reach the island ahead, and was confident that the Genin would have more than enough chakra to make two trips if they had to.

Night had fallen just as team Gama made their way through the outskirts of town. Jiraiya signaled to the other two, and the company came to a halt.

"We don't know what's going on here, so, I want you guys to hide your weapons and supplies in a storage scroll, but make sure you hide enough weapons on your person very well, in case something comes up. Take off the Hitai-ate too."

Both Genin did as they were told, then strolled through the village looking for a hotel with their sensei.

There were two small hotels in Nami no Kuni, and neither hotel would provide service to the outsiders. The team trekked once again, to the outskirts of town and set up camp for the night.

The next morning dawned, and with it came heavy rain that lasted all day. Jiraiya had the team split up during the morning after breakfast, Naruko and Shikamaru together and the Sannin alone. They had instructions to look for anything out of the ordinary, and to see if they could connect the dots as to why the Daimyo was losing money so rapidly in such a small town.

Both teams met up again mid afternoon to discuss their observations.

"There is something going on here, Sensei. We took note of many thugs around town, most of them carrying weapons. A lot of the time, those thugs stole from the shops and weren't called on it. All the civilians appear to be afraid of something," said Shikamaru.

"Good work, you two, I've come to the same conclusions. Let's eat."

It took quite a while to cook their meal of roast fish by the fire, as the rain hadn't let up at all. They had chosen to set up camp near the river of fresh water that ran through the village. Naruko had chosen to sit underneath a thick tree to keep dry, when she noticed something.

"Ero-Sensei!" Naruko called, "Look at the water!" the river that had been flowing gently had started to pick up speed, and the water level was starting to raise too, the water spilling up onto the ground.

"The dam in town must have broke, let's go!" Both Genin scrambled after him.

When they got up to the dam, which was in the middle of town, there was already a large crowd of people milling about, some were pointing to something. Shikamaru followed their line of site to the water. There was a man swimming across the water to reach the other side, he had rope tied around his middle. The man's strong arms propelled him forward, once across the Man moved quickly, trying to fix the dam.

Jiraiya put a hand each on the Genin's shoulders to keep them in place. Naruko thought their teacher must have expected the Man to fail. She found her fingers crossed hoping the man would succeed.

And he did.

Many of the town's people praised the man, calling him a hero. The atmosphere was good, smiling faces, even in the rain as the townspeople slowly shuffled back to their homes. The Man, whose name they learned was Kaiza, left with a small boy in tow.

Unseen by the townspeople, but noticed by the ninja, were two hard looking thugs, in the shadow of a few trees, grimacing at the display, both men turned and walked away.

They gave Naruko a bad feeling.

* * *

The next evening, there was another gathering of people, this time the people weren't happy; their hero, of the night before was now beaten up, his arms severely injured and barely conscious, he was tied to a pole for all the people to see.

Kaiza was surrounded by about fifty thugs, and a small man wearing a green business suit. The small man was short; he had long messy hair and was wearing sunglasses. He was also holding a cane. He carried himself well, as if he were important. To Naruko it looked like arrogance.

"Listen up! This man went against the production of the Gato Corporation using force, and disturbed the order of this country." The short man raised his arm, gesturing towards Kaiza, "Therefore, we will now execute him."

There were gasps of disbelief throughout the crowd. Jiraiya whispered to his Genin to 'be ready.'

"I hope that something like this will never happen again." The man continued.

A small boy in the crowd started calling out to his 'Tou-chan.' He had tears in his eyes and was shaking with fear. Kaiza smiled in his direction, he looked sad, but resigned to his fate. The man, Gato, turned his back and started to walk away, "Do it," he said.

One of the thugs started to unsheathe a katana, and the Genin sprung into action, climbing over the fence that surrounded the thugs and Kaiza.

"_Kagemane no jutsu_, success," called Shikamaru. The thug, who held the blade inches from Kaiza's throat, instantly stopped moving, held by an unseen force.

Naruko wasted no time in nailing the thug in the face, and proceeding to untie Kaiza from the cross shaped pole. All the other men in the employ of Gato found that they too, could not move a muscle to stop the young girl.

Once untied, Kaiza fell forward, and in that split second, Jiraiya was there, he caught the injured man and bounded away, the Genin swiftly trailing behind.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who have reviewed, favorited, or are following this story!

Also, about the reverse-harem, I'll try to keep it as realistic as possible, (even though I know its hardly possible in real life) but keep in mind that this is fiction, and anything can happen.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Both Shikamaru and Naruko were having trouble keeping pace with their renowned Sannin Sensei, even though the small party of ninja, along with the unconscious Kaiza, had long left their pursuers behind. Even enhancing their leaps and bounds with chakra could not make them faster than him. The run went on and on, until he stopped so suddenly that when Naruko skid to a stop just behind him, Shikamaru toppled into the blond, sending her crashing into Jiraiya with a startled grunt of pain.

"Shh!" The Sennin hissed. He crouched down, peering through the bushes, Kaiza still clutched in his strong arms.

They had stopped in a small break in the trees, surrounded by bushes on all sides. Jiraiya was looking in the direction of a quaint, two-story house that stood almost directly ahead of them. Neither Naruko nor Shikamaru had known this house was near; nor did they know what purpose their Sensei had in bringing them there.

"I've determined that Kaiza lives here, along with a young woman, an old man; probably her father, and a small boy," said Jiraiya, clearing up their confusion.

"He looks kinda pale, Sensei, we should get him inside," spoke the Nara.

"Naruko, spam out some clones. Make a perimeter to guard the house and watch for more of those mercenaries."

The blond did as she was told.

"Let's go."

* * *

Naruko lay in her borrowed bedroll; hers had been left with the rest of their camp earlier in the evening and Jiraiya had said he would fetch their gear in the morning; her first C-rank mission was going very well. They had, after all, found the source of the Daimyo's money drain; Gato.

The people of this town were being suppressed; just thinking about what that man and his cronies were doing made her angry and disgusted. Poor Kaiza was still unconscious and if he woke up he may not ever regain the use of his arms properly; he would have minimal movements and would not be able to lift anything heavy. For a man who spent his life working, for the sake of working, it was a most terrible tragedy.

The blond heard a _creak _of the floorboards and glanced sharply to her left. Shikamaru; just seeing his tired expression made her smile. He walked forward and lay down beside her, folding his arms behind his head.

"We may have to kill tomorrow," he whispered after a long silence.

The smile slid off her face slowly, "I know."

"Can you do it?"

"I don't—yes, if I have to." Both Genin were staring absentmindedly at the ceiling now.

"Killing on a mission is not the same as what _He_ did, Naruko," his voice had taken on a harder tone.

"I—I know, Shikama—"

"Do you?" he interrupted.

She did not want to talk about Him. He had destroyed her when he left. He had shattered her beautiful image of Him. Shikamaru kept her grounded, and he was also the only one she knew who would bring Him into a conversation.

"I don't want to be like Him."

"Then you won't be." The Nara smiled to himself. Namikaze Naruko was, in general, a very bubbly person. She still was, even after Itachi murdered his clan and fled Konoha. But certain topics of discussion would rapidly bring her mood down.

In the aftermath of the massacre, when it was determined to have been done by Itachi, Shikamaru had stepped up to keep the girl from falling into herself. She had been so close to not being herself anymore, so close to forgetting who she was, all because of _Him_.

So he trained, to keep up with her, and to catch up to Itachi, to end him for hurting Naruko so badly.

* * *

The next morning, the ninja (with their retrieved gear) had breakfast and headed out towards the building housing Gato and his men. Their plan was to infiltrate and kill Gato, steal all his funds to pay back the Daimyo and the rest of Nami no Kuni and transfer the rest to Konohagakure.

Their plan was straight forward, as Gato's men were just mercenaries with no training in the use of chakra to speak of. That wasn't to say it would be easy taking them out, but their chances of success were quite high.

Jiraiya's face was grim as they came upon the building. He knew his students were never going to be the same after this; that their innocence would be lost. It was always hard watching young ninja become the killers they were trained to be.

On Jiraiya's signal they stormed the building together, busting down the door and taking out the first thugs they saw, continuing down cramped hallways, searching rooms, looking for Gato's office, all the while silencing the guards as quickly and quietly as possible.

It didn't take long to find him. He was moving about his office grabbing things, shoving them in a duffel bag, preparing to flee.

The chubby man turned at the sound of the door opening. His eyes widening in fear as the man recognized who and what they were. "Please! I have money," Gato looked at each ninja, his beady eyes flickering back and forth. "I'll pay you whatever you want! Please spare me!"

The Genin were visibly disgusted.

Jiraiya managed to get Gato to transfer funds back to the Daimyo, to Nami no Kuni and the rest of his millions to Konoha. Once done, the tycoon had started to relax and had expected to walk away a free man, until Jiraiya stuck a kunai in his brain. Gato dropped dead with a loud thump.

Two hours later when the team had returned from Gato's hideout, Naruko and Shikamaru once again lay upstairs on their bedrolls. Neither one had managed to break the silence that had settled over the two of them.

It was late in the night before the silence was broken, Naruko's shoulders started to shake, her sobs becoming more pronounced, Shikamaru held her as he finally let his own tears escape as well.

* * *

Author's note: I know it's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry for that, but in December I lost someone very dear to me, and have since lost my reason to do pretty much anything. This story will continue, through sporadic updates, but I plan to finish it. Thank you for reading and reviewing.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The next morning dawned all too soon, and Team Gama, as Jiraiya had taken to calling them, were preparing to leave.

Kaiza hadn't spoken much, as he was still recovering from his injuries, but he had given them a heartfelt thank you. Tsunami, Kaiza's wife had packed the team a lunch for the road, and her young son Inari had hardly left his adoptive father's side.

Tazuna, an older man, who was Tsunami's father, had told them he had started a bridge building project. Building a bridge to the mainland so that what Gato had done to the people of Nami no Kuni, wouldn't happen again. This would also benefit the island financially as well.

It was late morning when the team headed out; the atmosphere tense, the actions of the day before still lingering in the minds of the Genin. Jiraiya allowed this for a few hours until they took a break for lunch.

"Alright, kids; I need you to focus. This afternoon we're meeting with the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni and I can't allow you to stay in this funk anymore," Jiraiya's tone wasn't hard, but it was obvious that his patience had worn thin.

The Genin knew he was right, they knew what they were getting into; they knew that they would be taking lives in this line of work. They especially knew that Gato had deserved to die for all the horrible crimes he had committed.

Jiraiya unpacked their lunch and handed out the food, remaining quiet, letting his Genin work out their own thoughts.

Naruko had tried to prepare herself for the life of a ninja. She thought once she had taken a life she would continue to get used to it and not care. She was wrong; she did care, even though those thugs Gato had hired were the worst sort of people who had done unimaginable things to others. She knew that following orders were a Shinobi's duty, but that didn't make it any easier.

The day wore on and they traveled quickly; Jiraiya had started to talk about the small capitol of Nami no Kuni and described the Daimyo as a short and very thin man who was kind to his people and who honestly cared about them.

They reached the small city and made their way to the Daimyo's palace in silence. They were greeted at the gate by a middle aged samurai and shown in without much hassle.

It was a short visit. Jiraiya explained the hardship of the small village of Nami no Kuni they had just traveled from lead by the old bridge builder Tazuna, whom the Daimyo knew of; he was told the threat was taken care of and given the pass code for the funds and then some that he had liberated from Gato, leaving out the part about the _very_ large sum kept for Konoha.

They were thanked profusely and then shown out without much fanfare to continue home.

With their mission complete, the Genin allowed themselves to relax as they traveled home; exhausted was the only word to describe their demeanor as the Konoha gate came into view after their long trek over the countryside.

They were greeted at the gate by the guards, one of whom was asleep, until smacked upside the head by his friend.

"We're gonna brief the Hokage on our mission and then you guys can rest for the rest of the week," said Jiraiya as he took the lead walking at a leisurely pace through the village.

The Hokage was sad to hear that his new Genin had taken lives so early, but also pleased that Naruko and Shikamaru seemed to be handling it rather well so far.

A quick trip to the mission office to accept their pay, a short walk home and both Genin collapsed on their beds and had a well deserved rest.

The next day, Shikaku took it upon himself to have private conversations with both Shikamaru and Naruko after their first kills. It had gone as well as he expected; both children displayed heartache and a sense of loss, but both knew that what they were feeling was normal and that it would pass in time. Their relationship as a team would be stronger for it in the end. The scarred Jounin could remember well what it had been like for his own Genin team their first time. His teammates Inoichi and Chouza had gotten through it together and he knew his son well enough to know he and Naruko would be alright together.

A week later, Jiraiya told his Genin that they were entered for the Chuunin exam in Kumo.

* * *

Author's Note: I know it's been awhile since i updated, but I promise, I haven't given up on this one. Reviews make me very happy (hint hint :P). It may seem a little rushed, but honestly I've got no clue how to write, I'm just putting down the idea I had in my head.


End file.
